It takes 2-6 times to kill earch hair??

Special Issues Transgender / Transsexual
#1

When I did electrolysis back in 1991, my electrologist, who was popular among T people, said it can take anywhere from 2-6 times to kill each hair follicle. Is this correct?

As soon as one regrew, she liked to zap it as fast as possible, so it wouldn’t get stronger. But I assume this was hard to monitor, since I was in stealth and shaved every day. Pretty soon it was hard to tell what was an original hair and what was a regrown hair.

Also, I have read on a number of local websites put out by practitioners that electrolysis usally does not hurt. This was not my experience from 1991. Is it supposed to hurt?

#2

Is it supposed to hurt? Depends on who you are listening to. The most outdated text books even say that if it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work. However, the newest machines out there do such a high powered treatment at such a small interval of time, that most treatments zaps range from nothing to feel at all, to mild discomfort.

I don’t have a single client who has done a minimum of 10 hours with me who has not fallen asleep during the treatment at least once.

The only way it would take 6 treatments to kill a hair is if you never treated it in anagen growth phase, or your electrologist did not have the setting made well enough to properly treat that size hair, or the practitioner some how managed to do a poor insertion 5 out of 6 times.

You need to get to first clearance as quickly as possible so you are only dealing with hairs in growth phase. Full clearances are the only way you can hope to be done in 9 to 18 months.

#3

<< I don’t have a single client who has done a minimum of 10 hours with me who has not fallen asleep during the treatment at least once. >>

Wow! Good to know this. I only wished I lived in Rochester now, like I used to! It’s an easy drive to Buffalo, and I could always stop at the Galleria Mall afterwards. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

<< You need to get to first clearance as quickly as possible so you are only dealing with hairs in growth phase. Full clearances are the only way you can hope to be done in 9 to 18 months. >>

I don’t understand this. I shave my male beard everyday anyway. So won’t my visible hairs always be in the anagen phase when I let them grow for a day or two so they are long enough for the elctrologist?

#4

Too bad you did not know about me back then, you would be done by now for sure!

for your other question, read this

http://www.hairtell.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/8297/an/0/page/0#8297

#5

Ok, I am going to print that thread out for future reference. Thanks!

Let me try this again now:

<< The only way it would take 6 treatments to kill a hair is if you never treated it in anagen growth phase, or your electrologist did not have the setting made well enough to properly treat that size hair. >>

So since I always shaved my complete beard a day or two before each treatment session, I assume I am correct in stating the only hairs the electrologist could have been working on were those in the anagen phase (I was in stealth mode back then, except to my electrologist–and had been living “full-time”–IOW, I didn’t go in as a guy with a full beard that I had been growing for months).

But the hairs my electrologist had removed always/often (?) grew back as lighter and finer hairs. She said that it can take up to 6 or so treatments of this same hair to get it to go away permanently. So is this a sign of a bad electrologist? How many times should a single hair/papilla have to be treated to get it to completely go away?

<< You need to get to first clearance as quickly as possible so you are only dealing with hairs in growth phase. Full clearances are the only way you can hope to be done in 9 to 18 months. >>

I still don’t understand this, even after having read that other thread. If one has transitioned already and shaves daily, what does it matter? You still have the same number of hairs, and they are still going to have to be treated as much as necessary, whether you do just one hour a week or do a full clear in a few weeks, right? Unless, of course, the regrowth comes back stronger since you are shaving this daily, before your next treatment (??). (Does shaving or time cause for the lighter/finer hairs which regrow to get stronger? Is it normal for electrolysized hairs to regrow, if electrolysized propery?)

Is there even such a word as “electrolysized”? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

#6

An electrologist can treat any hair they can see and remove any hair they can grasp.

Shaving allows one to be able to tell the difference between a growing hair, and a shedding hair.

spillover treatment would cause damage to adjacent follicles.

If you are not getting full clearance, you never know how many hairs have never been treated in the first place.

I really can’t try to restate any more stuff that I have written and re-written all over the site. Just take my word for it, you need to get to bare skin in an area, and then things really step into high gear. Other than that, it only looks like one is treating hairs 6 to 10 times. When you work slow, hairs come in and out of phase before your eyes over and over.

Of course, if you always find yourself treating a particular hair during its shedding or resting phase, you just might treat it 6 or more times before you ever get rid of it.

#7

Hi James, thanks. I do appreciate your help, and realize you must get asked the same questions over and over.

I will try reading old threads in these forums to see what I can learn. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

#8

<< You need to get to first clearance as quickly as possible so you are only dealing with hairs in growth phase. Full clearances are the only way you can hope to be done in 9 to 18 months. >>

Hi James, are you allowed you shave though in between clearings? And does shaving in between clearings mess things up?

Thanks!

#9

Hi Mileena,

I hope you are making good progress with your treatments. If you have any queations, my office is in the suburbs of Philly, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I work with many TG clients.

#10

shaving or clipping hairs in between appointments is ok. Just give your worker 24 to 72 hours worth of hair on the day of your treatment.

#11

Hi Mileena:

I shave between sessions. Lately I have to give them five full days of growth to work with. I can’t stand doing that, but it doesn’t really show much at all.

I am at a stage now where I get full clearance of my full face and neck each time out. Once you get to that stage and maintain a regular schedule it gets better really quickly.

Alicia

#12

Hi Millena,

I am also going through a lot of electrolysis right now. One of the things I know from my own experience is that at any one time, a lot of your hair will not be in the active growth stage. As others have posted, this is why it is important to shave 1 to 3 days prior to having a treatment as this will show only the actively growing hairs, allowing them to be selectively treated.

I concur with the statement that if a hair is taking multiple treatments, the hairs are either being caught after their active growth state, or they are being insufficently treated.

As far as getting an initial clearance in an area, this will also make the electrologist’s job a lot easier. Any hairs that appear after the initial clearance will be in the early stages of anagen growth, requiring less power and shallower insertions to get to and properly treat.

As long as you are experiencing a steady decrease of the numbers of hairs that need to be treated, you know that the electrologist is doing a good job for you. This however may take several months to realize - depending on the density of hair follicles in a given area and the period of the hair growth cycle for that particular site.

Generally speaking, it has been my experience, from both sides of the probe, that as long as an anagen hair is epilated with a full bulb and inner root sheath, it will not be back.

Joanie <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

#13

Lately I have to give them five full days of growth to work with. I can’t stand doing that, but it doesn’t really show much at all.

“Shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh, shshshshshsh! That makes me sooo mad!” Marvin the Martin
Envious actually! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Alicia makes a very good point here. If you stick to your schedule you will have good results and win the race! I’m only envious because I still have a looooong ways to go with this! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

From what I know of our distinguished sister from the mid-west, she has stayed with the course and earned her bragging rights. Electrolysis, or any other form of permanent hair removal requires our dedication and work as well as our provider’s. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Alicia is a good example of this.

Well done, girlfriend!

Joanie <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />